Keion Henderson - From a kid to a king

Chapter 18, verses 1 through 7, 2 Kings 18:1 — 7. While you’re looking for it, I’m going to go ahead and begin with the reading, and they’ll put it on the screen so you can follow along. In 2 Kings, chapter 18, the Bible says, «In the third year of the reign of Israel’s King Hosea, son of Elah, Hezekiah, son of Ahaz, became king over Judah.» He was 25 years old when he began to reign, and he reigned 29 years in Jerusalem. His mother was Abi, the daughter of Zechariah, and he did what the Lord approved, just as his ancestor David had done. Verse 4 says, «He eliminated the high places.» Somebody say, «Eliminate the high places.» He smashed the sacred pillars to bits and cut down the Asherah pole. He also demolished the bronze serpent that Moses had made, for up to that time the Israelites had been offering incense to it. Verse 5 says, «He trusted in the Lord God of Israel.» In this regard, there was none like him among the kings of Judah, either before or after. He was loyal to the Lord and did not abandon Him, and he obeyed the commandments which the Lord had given to Moses. The Lord was with him, and he succeeded in all of his endeavors.

In the next few moments, I want to share what I’ve chosen to call «From a Kid to a King.» Touch a neighbor on the way down and say, «God’s getting ready to take you from a kid to a king.» You may be seated in the presence of the Lord. You know, I was thinking about this as we have all of our young people in the room, giving homage and respect to the kings- no pun intended, Dr. King-and those like Medgar Evers and all the people who came before them. I think that sometimes we miss the lesson of this moment; for it is not our responsibility to just pay tribute to the kings that came before us, but it is also our responsibility to pay attention to what they did. So when history is written, all of the kings will not be forgotten. It is important that the young men of the choir who just sang, the young ladies in the preparatory academy, and those who are in daycare- by the way, what exquisite language is used by kids who haven’t even reached the first grade-recognize that it wasn’t just Dr. King talking about the fact that he was a king, but rather, he was showing them a path to how they could also be one.

And sometimes, in order to be a king, certain things have to take place. Lest I hold you too long, we are introduced here to a young brother named Hezekiah. However, it is also necessary to understand that he could not be king until there was first the death of a king, for his father Ahaz, who was the king prior to him, had the position. But in order for Hezekiah to attain the position, Ahaz had to die. Everybody say, «Something 's got to die.» This is important because the Bible tells us that his father Ahaz was an evil king. He was a man filled with hatred, and the Bible goes further to say that Ahaz was a cursed king. So here he is, a cursed king, and at this time Israel is falling as a nation because there is no way for the people to rise when their leader is under a curse. That 's why you have to be careful who you let lead you, because you could be blessed, but you will reap the consequences of those whom you follow.

So King Ahaz is cursed, and now, even though Israel is God’s chosen people, they are now cursed because, although they were chosen, they still had the shadow of their leader over their heads. Is this making sense to you all so far? So Ahaz is the king, and he has a curse over his life. Now Hezekiah has to come in and clean up the mess that his father left behind. The Bible tells us that Ahaz dies, and as I leap to the end of the text, under Hezekiah, Israel blooms and blossoms-which lets us know, and I hate to say it, that even though this is about his father, and his father dies, all of a sudden now the nation begins to blossom. I hate to say this, but there are some deaths that are profitable. Oh God! I know you didn’t want to say amen to that, and I’m not talking about the death of a person, but there are some things in your life that you will not reap the benefits of until they are deceased. I don’t know what that is in your life; I don’t know what is king over your life.

It may not be a person, but there is something in your life that has a curse on it, and God says there are some things in your life that, when you lose them, the profit will come. You think that losing them means that you’re in deficit, and you think that losing them means that God is taking something away. But God sent me to tell you that there are some things that He can’t give you until He takes others from you. I want you to know that there is something in your life — somebody say, «Something.» There is something that you need to pronounce...